Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Double Standard

I attended the local Women's Expo on behalf of our community group, Friends for Choice, last Saturday.  Every year, we but up a booth at this thing, loaded with pro-choice pamphlets, stickers and buttons.  And every year, we get dirty looks from people who are sure we're out to kill babies.

One thing that's struck me as odd for the past few years at these events is the double standard that exists between "sex" related booths.  There always seems to be a "Pure Romance" booth set up, which sells sex toys and lotions, etc. via direct marketing (think Avon, Tupperware, Pampered Chef).  People seem to flock to this kind of thing with no problem.  I once went to Pure Romance party that was chiefly attended by middle-aged women whom you would normally think of as reserved.

The point to all of this is that when they're thinking about sex in terms of the "fun" aspects of it, people, and women in particular, seem to have no problem with it.  But when you ask them to think about the same thing in terms of responsibility or healthcare, everyone gets ridiculously squeamish about it. What's the deal with that?  Why isn't Pure Romance nearly as controversial as a family planning clinic or the pro-choice movement?

Maybe it's because everyone can put their blinders on and pretend that Pure Romance items are only being used within the sanctity of the holy marital bed, and a cotton-candy flavored body powder won't stop you from getting pregnant.